Darlington Invite

We left our house at 6:15 on Saturday morning, the temp up to a brisk 43 degrees! The day was gorgeous- perfect running conditions (especailly after a course-walk and warm-up run). By the time Iris ran at 8:45, it was about 52 degrees.

Trying to figure out the course map

Iris's breathing was better than at Brodhead, but she still struggled a lot with it the last half-mile or so, causing her to drop back a lot then. She said her jaw locked open, trying to get air. It's heartbreaking to witness. I made an appointment for her to see someone who specializes in airways and breathing. I am hopeful we can get her the help she needs!

This was our Middle Schoolers' first meet of the season. They were stoked!

Soon after the start of the race, the top girls with Opal gaining the inside curve.

She held on to that fifth place spot for pretty much the whole race- a 1.37 mile course.

#6 girl passed her at the VERY end- some of those eighth (and seventh!) grade girls are tall, and she just can't compete with those long legs for a finishing kick. But 1-10 Middle School finishers got ribbons. She got 9:10 for the 1.37 mile course, in contrast with 9:26 for the slightly shorter 1.3 miles last year. Good job, Opal!

Besides being the Middle Schoolers first race of the season, it was Joel's first XC meet EVER (besides a peewee race or two)! He's been training with the team and has been doing an awesome job, so coach entered him to run with the middle schoolers. He was beyond ecstatic!

Toby had a great race, too, taking a whole minute off his time on a longer course! He finished in 9:52 compared to last year's 10:52.

Look at that smile! He was super pleased with his 11:25- awesome job, Joel!

Go Warriors!

Brodhead Invite ~ breathing trouble

Coaches Russow and Ryan! Missing the third 'R' and middle school coach, Coach Resch.

Pre-race face painting

Pre-race prayer

Poor Iris had been struggling a bit with breathing duiring her summer training runs and had a few spells of swollen tonsils over the past few months, to the point where she could hardly swallow. I worried she might have enlarged tonsils that would need to be removed, but she said she wanted to wait until after the season to do anything that would take her out for weeks on end. So she kept up with the training and just took her inhaler frequently.

We had our first high school meet of the season last Thursday. The weather wasa little cooler for this time of year- low 70s. She ran with her inhaler and took it a few times during the race, but she said it didn't do much good. She was clearly having trouble breathing, arching her head back to try to open her airway, gasping for breath, trying to breathe through her nose, as breathing exercises suggest. She powered through and managed to finish in 28:13, a couple of minutes slower than her race there last year, despite not getting enough oxygen. At the end of the race, she kept gasping for air, which she said she felt she just couldn't get. Her tongue was white.

The next day, Friday morning, she said her throat still felt very constricted, making it difficult to breathe. I took her to urgent care, but they sent us to the ER after hearing that this- swollen tonsils and difficulty breathing- had been an ongoing issue. At the hospital, she had swabs for Covid and strep, which I really didn't think the cause, as she had no other symptoms besides trouble getting enough breath. She did not feel sick at all. Bt they also took an x-ray of her chest. And while after we'd been there, they came back to report that her strep test was positive! We were kind of shocked, but apparently, this is sometimes the case with strep- red, swollen tonsils with no other symptoms. Strnage. So she was able to get started on antibiotics and head home.

Unfortuntealy, it has been a few days since she started on the antibiotics, and she is still having trouble breathing. She didn't participate in Tuesday's high school race and will skip practices until her breathing improves. Hopefully, soon!

Early season cross country

We held a few unofficial practices over the summer, but another season of Warriors cross country officially started two weeks ago. It's our first season with Coach Russow as our head coach and Coach Resch and I as assistant coaches. I think it's been going well so far. We again have a huge middle school team. The high school team is small this year, and already they are nursing a few injuries and breathing issues, but it's still early...

I am looking forward to getting to know the runners better and am hopeful it's going to be a great season!

Happy 11th birthday, Toby!

Happy 11th birthday, Toby! You are one cool kid- creative, introspective, generous, thoughtful... and we're so grateful you're a part of our crew!